Mockingjays Make Beautiful Melodies
by VanillaTwilight17
Summary: Post Mockinjay before epilogue when Katniss decides she wants to start a family with Peeta.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to its respective owners and this is all just for fun!

Title: _Mockingjays Make Melodies_

Summary: Just a one shot (possibly 2) set post Mockinjay (before epilogue) when Katniss decides she wants to start a family with Peeta.

I couldn't honestly tell you what it was that made me say yes. After years of conviction on the subject it's hard to believe that out of the blue I could just decide that I wanted to have a child, but that is basically what happened. We were sitting in the living room. Peeta was drawing, no doubt yet another portrait of me and I was polishing my beloved bow. Nothing special about the evening at all in fact it was almost too common of an evening for something extraordinary as this to go down. I was just finishing up with my bow when it hit me, I looked at my bow, my greatest passion, and saw my reflection in the polished surface then I looked up at Peeta, seeing his brow furrowed with concentration and the tip of his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth, lost in his greatest passion. The window was open and I could hear a mockingjay singing a song outside. It was as I sat there watching him and listening to the mockingjay that I said it.

"Ok."

"Ok what darling?" Peeta said his full focus still on his latest creation.

"We can have a baby." Whatever Peeta thought I was oking this was the farthest thing from it. He dropped his pencil and drawing pad, an unfinished picture of me polishing my bow, and stared at me wide eyed and open mouthed.

"We can have a…" Peeta started but was unable to finish the thought still clearly in some sort of shock.

"A baby. I want us to have a baby. Isn't that something you want?" I asked? I assumed it was since he had been asking me every other day since we got married ten years ago.

"Oh Katniss more than anything! I want us to have a baby together! Do you really mean it? You want this too?" He asked coming over to me as fast as his bad leg would allow and wrapping his arms around me. I couldn't help but laugh a little at his enthusiasm.

"I do Peeta. I'm still apprehensive but I want it."

"What brought this on?" He asked kissing my jaw line and neck and driving me crazy. Apparently he wanted to get this baby making ball rolling right away.

"I'm not really sure. I was just looking at us…sitting here doing the two things we each love most in the world, but can't really share with each other and thought it might be nice to have someone to share them with. You know…you could teach the little thing to paint and I could teach it to hunt and we could be a…"

"A family," Peeta said taking me in his arms and kissing me passionately and we completely lost ourselves in one another.

I'm not exactly sure if it was that night or one of the many that followed that was responsible for large swell of my belly. I still have a million and a half doubts about doing this whole thing but there was no way I could go back now. In about five more months I am going to be completely responsible for this little life that is growing inside me and I am scared to death about it. Peeta is of course over the moon and he has every right to be. He's wanted this more than anything and I knew that despite everything he has been through, he would be an excellent father. I on the other hand, am not so confidant. I have had nightmares every night since I found out I was pregnant, that those horrible Hunger Games will be reinstated and I would have to watch as my child was sent away to the slaughter while I was incapable of doing anything to stop it. I would wake up screaming and Peeta would hold me and whisper in my ear until I calmed down. This was nothing new of course. Nightmares are a common occurrence for both of us. How could I be a good mother with all that I had been through? What parts of me aren't emotionally damaged are scarred beyond belief and repair. Peeta is confident that I can overcome this and be an excellent mother but I'm not as sure. Of course I always come back to thoughts of Rue and Prim, how I was unable to protect them and just find myself going around in circles with these fears until Peeta calms me down and then the cycle starts again.

We have told everyone about the news. My mother is over the moon and I told her that as soon as the baby is a little older I'll bring it out to District 4 to visit. She knows she welcome to come and stay with Peeta and I anytime she wants but I extend the offer to come to her and she vehemently jumps on it. She wants to come back to District 12 just about as much as I want to make her come out here and relive all those memories. Annie will want to meet the little thing anyway and I haven't seen little Finn in forever! She's already offered to give me all of Finn's newborn stuff, and if it's a boy she says I'm welcome to everything he grows out of. I haven't yet decided if I will go see Gale. We haven't seen each other since….it happened. My mother offered to send along the message but wanted to tell him myself. Regardless of the situation between us regarding the incident, it can't be denied that there was once something, romantic or not, between us and I owe that much to him to let him hear the news from me. He sent me a letter.

_Catnip,_

_Congratulations are in order I guess. Just imagine, you, a mother. I know you will be counting the days until you can get that kid out in the woods with a bow and arrow. Teach it to shoot straight for me! Maybe if I'm ever in 12 I will show it how to set a good snare! I hope things are well with you and Peeta. Pass on my congrats to him as well. It was nice to hear from you Catnip. You'll make a great mom._

_Always,_

_Gale_

I've read that letter a hundred times since I received it. I miss my friend. I really and truly do but even in written words it's clear that things will never be the same between us which is probably why direct contact between us is so rare and he knows as well as I do that he has no intentions of returning to 12. Like my mother too many memories. I've long since accepted this and decided to just cherish the memories of my time in the woods with the boy with the snares. Still, if I'm in 4 I might bother myself with the trouble of seeing him one last time to say a proper goodbye, we owe each other that much. While I'm going that far I might as well stop by in 7 and see Johanna. She's excited to and actually offered me some nice sentiments when I told her. I'm not even going to speak about the horrid outfits I have received from Effie and my prep team. I know they meant well but I would never ever dress my child in that grotesque capital garb. The most surprising reaction of all was from Haymitch. He is actually excited about this! As much as he, Peeta, or I may try and deny it, he's fond of us and we are of him and I know it pleases him to see us at least attempting to live some semblance of a normal life. Peeta and I told him we want him to be the baby's godfather and he actually burst into tears. Albeit he had had several glasses of wine at that point but the old man was clearly touched.

I am stirred awake one night when I am five months pregnant. At first I thought it was because of the loud thunder storm outside only to discover I was awoken by a bizarre feeling within me I have never experienced before. At first I thought that perhaps my morning sickness had returned but when I see a small lump rise and fall across my already swollen stomach, I become aware of what it was. I was feeling my baby move for the first time. My first instinct is to wake Peeta because I want him to experience this with me but I decide to take a moment just for myself and take it in. My apprehensions have left me unable to fully cherish this pregnancy the way that many expectant mothers probably would but this is different. I have always known in my head that there is a baby inside me but this is the first time the little growing life has made itself known to me and for the first time, I am genuinely excited to meet my child. I can't help the huge smile that has taken up residence on my face. I place my hands on my stomach to feel it more but the movement had stopped. I tell myself not to be too upset about it. Pretty soon the little thing would be moving around non-stop and I would be wishing for it to stop but another part of me doesn't want the feeling to ever go away. Just then another crack of thunder booms outside and the baby begins moving around again and when this happens again a thought hits me.

"Are you afraid of the thunder baby?" I ask caressing my stomach gently. Almost as if to answer I feel a kick right under my hand. "Don't worry baby. It's ok, Mommy's here. Mommy won't let anything hurt you, ever." I say in a soothing voice caressing my stomach gently and almost immediately the baby stops kicking and settles down except for smalls gentle kicks against my hand.

"I never want to hear you say that you won't be a good mother." I hear Peeta whisper groggily next to me.

"Oh Peeta! I was going to wake you! Give me your hand!" I place Peeta's hand on my stomach and watch his face and when I feel that now familiar sensation in my stomach I see him smile so wide I know he feels it too!

"I feel it! I feel our baby!" He exclaimed. "Hi baby I'm your daddy!" Peeta says to my stomach caressing and kissing it lovingly. I am so overwhelmed with emotion I can't help but feel a tear come to my eye. This is the first time in a long time I remember feeling completely happy and content with the world. Peeta looks up at me and wipes the tear from my eye. "I love you so much! Thank you, thank you for giving this to me! You have no idea how happy this makes me!"

"No Peeta thank you! Thank you for convincing me to do this. You really think I could be a good mother?" I ask him taking his head in my hands.

"I know it!" He says as he leans in to give me a kiss. As he is kissing me we begin to feel the baby kick once more.

"Hey now there kiddo, we love you but you gotta give your mommy and daddy some privacy too!" Peeta says kissing and caressing my stomach and I can't help by laugh. I fall back to sleep that night with my hand resting on my stomach and Peeta's hand on top of that protectively. For the first time, while still apprehensive, I feel like I could actually do this.

I feel contractions one night when Haymitch is over for dinner. I had been feeling what the local doctor calls Braxton Hicks contractions for about a week now and just assume it's more of these. I'm not due for another week but according to the doctor I could deliver any day. Which is fine by me, I've gotten so big that I really just want to get this baby out of me. It's a nasty night. We were right in the middle of one of the worst storms of the year and we had offered to just let Haymitch spend the night so he wouldn't have to walk home in this. I clear the plates from the table and take them to the kitchen to clean up the kitchen. Peeta come in shortly after.

"Oh no honey don't worry about that I'll get it you need to rest."

"I'm pregnant Peeta not invalid." I tell him. Peeta has been getting increasingly over protective the farther into the pregnancy I get. I love him and I do understand his worries over something going wrong but I still don't like to be treated like this pregnancy makes me incapable of functioning on my own.

"Dear God man don't anger it!' Haymitch says to Peeta and I throw a spoon at him and miss.

"I don't even want to hear it from you." I say to him.

"Chill out Sweetheart, go put your feet up." Haymitch says.

"Why don't you put your feet up you drunken….OW!" I say as I am all of a sudden doubled over with pain.

"Katniss! Katniss what's wrong?" Peeta asks immediately placing his hands on my back.

"She's gone into labor that's what's wrong with her son." Haymitch says.

"That's not possible. I'm not done for another week!" I say, all of a sudden extremely frightened at the prospect of this baby actually coming.

"Well Sweetheart that's the thing about babies. They come when they want to."

"We gotta get the doctor!" Peeta says still with his arms around me.

"Have you seen outside? The roads are all washed out and flooded. Ain't no way a doctor's getting here tonight."

"AHHHH! OH GOD!" I say as another contraction hits.

"Which is unfortunate for us because I don't think she's going to make it until the morning," Haymitch says looking me over and placing a hand on my stomach.

"What are we going to do?" Peeta asks clearly trying to keep calm and failing.

"Well for starters get her upstairs and in bed and then we just go from there." Peeta nods in agreement and begins to help me up the stairs.

"It's all going to be ok Katniss don't worry! I'm going to take care of you. Both of you! And I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He says rubbing my back and reassuring me.

"Thank you Peeta. I know you're here" I say as he lays me down on the bed and I try to find a comfortable position. The hours pass and my contractions get closer together and more intense. Peeta is downstairs trying to get through to the doctor on the phone but with not much luck. We get a lot more hours of electricity in District 12 now but I suspect the storm has knocked out the power making a phone call pretty impossible. Haymitch stayed upstairs with me and evermore my mentor tries to coach me.

"How're you doing there Sweetheart?" he asked me.

"I think I might take being back in the arena right now. They never tell you that this hurts this much!" I say squeezing his hand and gritting my teeth through another contraction.

"UGH PEETA GET YOUR ASS UP HERE!" I yell in pain.

"Oh lay off him a bit Sweetheart, he's just worried about you."

"You really don't want to go there right now Haymitch. I'll smash your booze bottle against the wall and we don't have any in the house either." Haymitch backs off a little after that clearly he knows better by now than to push it. "What if he can't get a hold of the doctor Haymitch? I don't know how to do this on my own Haymitch! I'm so scared! I don't want anything to go wrong! I couldn't bear it if anything happened to this baby! I also don't think Peeta could bear it if anything happened to me either and I just don't know what to…."

"Hey, you are the strongest person I have ever known, and you are going to make it through this and you are going to bring this baby into the world and it's going to be perfectly healthy I promise. I'll be here the whole time to guide you through it."

"Thank you Haymitch." I say as he damps my sweaty forehead with a damp washcloth.

"It's my job Sweetheart! To get you through things." He says as Peeta comes up the stairs.

"I'm sorry Honey but I can't get a hold of the doctor and the road is completely washed out. It's going to be ok though. I'm here and I'm not going to leave your side and we are going to get through this together." He says taking my hand in his and taking over Haymitch's job of dabbing my forehead with the cloth.

"Alright then. Looks like I'm going to have to take one for the team here." Haymitch says as he begins to roll up his sleeves.

"What are you doin….OH GOD!" I begin to ask as another contraction hits.

"I'm going to have to deliver this baby and judging by this it won't be too long now. Ok Katniss I need you to bend your knees for me so I can see what's going on."

"Oh no you don't!" I exclaim in protest but Peeta hushes me.

"What other option do we have love?" I know he has a point but it doesn't make this less awkward. I grit my teeth and let Haymitch take over the job of doctor. He determines that I should probably start pushing on my next contraction and I do. I push for two hours and the storm outside rages on. Peeta true to his word never leaves my side and coaches me through the entire thing. I really couldn't have asked for a better partner in this. Soon though, I become too exhausted and don't feel like I can carry on.

" Katniss I can see the head, we are in the home stretch now and really gotta keep moving so not to put the baby at any kind of risk."

"I can't. I can't do this. I'm sorry Peeta I can't do this!"

"Hey hey hey yes you can Katniss! Look at me! You are the bravest and strongest girl I have ever met and I know that you can do this. I know you're tired but if you just give me two more good pushes we will have our baby! I know you can do this!" Peeta says holding my hand and pressing his forehead against mine. In this I find the strength and go in for another push.

"Ok Katniss that's great!" Haymitch says. "One more push and you'll have your baby! Come on Sweetheart one more! Give me one more!" I take a deep breath and with both Peeta and Haymitch coaching me I give it the rest of my strength and go in for one last push.

What happens next is kind of a blur. I vaguely hear Peeta and Haymitch coaching me through this as I hear my own heart beating in my ears and the next thing I am aware of is the sound of newborn crying as my baby takes its first breaths of life. I can no longer contain my emotions as Haymitch lays the baby on my chest and I am barely aware of his exclamation,

"It's a girl! You guys have a daughter!" I wrap my arms around my daughter and the tears begin to fall freely.

"Oh hello my little girl! Look at you! You are so beautiful!" I say as I kiss her head. "Look at her!" I say to Peeta who I notice is also crying and rubbing her tiny head with this hand.

"Oh my God, I can't believe she's here!" He exclaims. Haymitch disappears and comes back with a knife and allows Peeta to cut the umbilical cord and hands me a blanket to wrap the baby in. I offer her to Haymitch to hold and he takes the little girl and begins to cry.

"Well hello there little Sweatheart. You look just like your mommy. Yes you do!" He says to her as he holds her. He hands her back to me and says he'll be downstairs if we need him but wants to give us some time alone. Peeta joins me on the bed and I offer him our daughter. He takes her carefully and stares at her with awed wonder.

"Hello my little princess. I'm your daddy! I've been looking forward to meeting you for so long! I can't believe we made her Katniss! I can't believe we have a daughter!" He says unable to take his eyes off her. I can't seem to take my eyes off of her either. She is perfect, in every way. What Haymitch said is true. She does look like me. Her head is filled with a dark patch of hair and her face is a miniature version of mine. When she opens her eyes I notice that she has inherited Peeta's blue eyes and I see genuine proof that she is really a part of me and a part of Peeta and if possible I fall even more in love with her. She begins to squirm and we decide she must be hungry. I position her on my breast and help her latch on and begin her first feeding. It was such a bizarre feeling but for the first time in a long time I felt like I had a genuine purpose in my life. To nourish, protect, and love this little girl. We fell asleep that night, with our daughter in between us, our fingers entwined on her stomach. A family.

The next day, the weather has miraculously cleared and after assuring that we are fine and peeling himself from our daughter which is no easy feat, Peeta heads out to go and get the doctor so she can give us a final check-up. We both pass it with a clean bill of health and settle into another day of rest and recovery. Peeta and I spend a majority of the day trying to figure out the best name for our child. We go back and forth a lot but we just can't find the perfect name for our little girl. The window is open and I begin to hear the mockingjays sing their songs again, another sign the weather is clearing up. A couple is walking by outside our window and I hear them talking.

"Damn mockingjays! All they do is cause a path of destruction and trouble wherever they go!" Exclaims the man. I can't help but laugh a little at that one. I have caused more than enough trouble in destruction in my days as the mockinjay for a rebellion. I bounce my daughter gently in my arms as the woman speaks.

"You got to give it to those mockingjays though, they make beautiful melodies." The mockingjays begin to sing almost as if on cue, just like they did the moment I decided to have the beautiful little bundle in front of me, and she opens her eyes at the sound and it hits me. I start seeing glimpse into the future, her first steps, the first time she smiles at me, the first time she says "Mama" and then even farther down the road, me taking my little girl into the woods with me and showing her how to hunt, giving her her first bow and arrow and bringing her home in the evening and watching Peeta teach her how to paint. Most of all I just look forward to the simple little family moments that we can relish in together. It all looks so beautiful and it becomes so clear. Mockinjays do make beautiful melodies.

"Melody." I say out loud.

"What my love?" Peeta asks.

"Her name is Melody."

Peeta walks over and sits beside us. "Melody Primrose Rue Mellark. I love it and I love you my sweet Katniss Mellark and you my sweet Melody." He says bending down and kissing us both. For the first time in a long time, I finally feel happy.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please review and let me know what you think. Right now it's just a one shot but I'm thinking of turning it into a two shot and showing Katniss taking her to meet everybody and possibly a small epilogue showing her teaching her how to hunt. Let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So I got so into this "one-shot" that I felt the need to continue it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Summary: Katniss and Peeta go on a trip to introduce their daughter Melody to their family and friends.

I have been a mother for six months now but I can no longer imagine life any other way than this. My daughter Melody is my entire world and I have never known love as powerful as this in my entire life. I never imagined myself in the traditional family roll but I have fit into it quite well. I give Peeta a lot of the credit for that though, he is a total natural at this. He is the best father in the entire world. The way he looks at our daughter, the love in his eyes is undeniable. He has helped me acclimate into this role and has been there for me every step of the way.

At first I was really apprehensive and still set on never having children. Originally my feelings on the subject were based upon the Hunger Games but after that was no longer an issue I just couldn't see how someone who had been through what I had in my life, could possibly be a good mother. Melody, my sweet Melody, is my entire reason for being now. She has helped to fill so many of those holes that were made by the cruel world I used to live in. I want her so badly to have everything, everything that I never had as a child, that I can be nothing less than a good mother for her. There are times when the loss of my sister hits me, or my mind gets lost back in the arena and I don't know how I can manage to carry on but then I see her face, and I find the strength.

Now that she is a little older, and out of her infant stage Peeta and I are going to travel to a couple of the districts to see my mother and friends of ours to introduce her. We are on the train to District 4 to see my mother and as I feed Melody I stare out the window lost in thought.

"What's wrong Katniss?" Peeta asks me. He is so attuned to me he always knows when something is bothering me.

"It's the first time I've seen my mother since…."I trail off. All these years later and I still can't bring myself to talk about the death of my sister out loud. Instead I just look down at the little girl suckling my breast and stroke her dark hair. Peeta gets up from the seat across from me to sit next to me and wrap his arms around my shoulders. I lean my head into him welcoming his comforting embrace.

"It will be alright. She is going to be so busy cooing over this little one that you guys won't have time to worry about those things and I will be right there with you the entire time." I turn my head and place a soft kiss on his cheek.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" I ask him.

"I ask myself the same thing every day."

We arrive in District 4 late that night. I am glad to be off the train, I hate being cooped up and it appears my daughter feels the same way because she has started to get very fidgety.

"It's ok baby girl, we're almost there." I say bouncing her gently in my arms and kissing her head. It's about a ten minute walk from the train station to my mother's house. She wanted to come and meet us but I told her that wasn't necessary and just asked for directions last time I spoke with her. I offer to send her money every month but she always refuses and by the looks of her house she hasn't done that bad for herself. It's not big, just two rooms but perfect for her and her in home medical services. She is outside waiting for us and when I see her I can't help but burst into tears. I run into her outstretched arms and bury my face in her shoulder like I did as a small child. She wraps both arms around me and begins to cry as well. My mother and I have had our shortcomings over the years, no use denying that but she is still very important to me and I didn't realize how much I had missed her. After several minutes we break apart and she places a hand on my cheek and kisses my forehead.

"Look at you. My beautiful Katniss." It's then that Melody stirs a little in my arms and my mother looks down and sees her granddaughter for the first time. I see the tears well in her eyes immediately.

"Oh Katniss…" She begins, taking Melody's small hand in her own.

"Mom, this is Melody. Melody this is your Nana." I say. "Would you like to hold her?" I hand her over to my mother and see a light enter my mother's eyes that hasn't been present since my father died.

"Oh look at you. You are beautiful." My mother says to my daughter and the scene before me melts my heart. I hold my out to Peeta who has stood back not wanting to interrupt the reunion. He takes it immediately and comes to stand next to me.

"She's really beautiful you guys. She looks exactly like Katniss when she was a baby. You are going to grow up to look just like your mommy. Yes you are!" My mother coos at Melody and she smiles back at her in response.

"Thank God, I hoped and hoped when Katniss was pregnant that the baby would look like her." Peeta said. I shook my head at both of them. It was true, when I looked at my daughter it was like looking in a mirror in most aspects.

"She has Peeta's eyes though. So you're in there too mister!" I say nuzzling into him. My mother looks up at us and smiles.

"Look at you two. So happy. You have no idea how much joy it brings me to know you're happy Katniss." My mother says.

"Thank you Mom, that really means a lot." I say.

We spend the next couple of days at my mother's. She is so in love with Melody it's crazy. It does me good to see her light up this way, in ways I haven't seen her do in so long. We don't talk about dark things. Things we both try to forget. What we do is take time to remember. One evening when I see my mom watching Peeta, Melody, and I and looking sad, no doubt longing for her shattered family I decide it's time to acknowledge _her._

"I wish Prim could be here. I know she would just love her to pieces." I say tickling Melody's chin. Peeta wraps his arm around me, he knows talking about Prim is the hardest thing in the world for me.

"She would." My mother says. "And oh what your father would say."

"He'd have her out in the woods I'm sure." I say jokingly. My mom lets out a small laugh at that one.

"Oh good lord! Stringing up the child with a bow and arrow before she can even sit up on her own! Just like him." My mother says laughing.

"Remember that time Prim found that baby squirrel and nursed it until it was big enough to take care of itself and then died the tip of its tail blue so that I would never shoot it." We all laughed at that one.

"Remember that time…" and so it went on like that through the evening. Peeta even chimed in with stories about his family, also lost in the rebellion. It is the first time any of us have dared bring these memories up and it's clear that it is good for us. I found that in regards to things like this, I like remembering. It was like for a few minutes, I had my sister and father back with me again. I have a new family now. One that I adore above anything else in this world, but it's nice to be able to cling to those few sacred memories of the family that was stolen from me and know that as long as I have these memories, they will never truly be gone from me.

The next morning, Melody wakes up earlier than usual to be fed. I get up as quietly as I can and go to the chair in the corner of the room to feed her so as not to wake Peeta. My mind is restless this morning. All the stirring of old memories the previous night had made me think about Gale and his close proximity to me at this moment. My mother says he still asks about me if they run into each other. Part of me wants to see him and the other part of me doesn't know if I can handle it. He's part of the life that I left behind. I look down at my daughter and over to my sleeping husband and can't imagine a place in my new one where Gale would fit in. I begin to quietly hum the valley song to Melody to help coax her back to sleep which must have woken Peeta.

"Are you going to go and see him?" I hear him ask from the bed.

"It's creepy how well you know me sometimes." I hear Peeta make a small laugh. "I haven't decided yet."

"I think you should." Peeta says. I was expecting him to shoot down the idea entirely. He and Gale weren't known for their love for one another.

"You do?"

"Katniss, there are so many holes in our lives. So many issues left unresolved. This is one you have the chance to finish, to get closure. Go see him. Give him my best. Your mom has a few maintenance things that need done around the house that I promised I would do for her anyway."

"Thank you Peeta. I am so lucky to have you."

I pack up Melody and head out into District 4 to hunt down my old friend. I had brought Gale's old bow and arrow that I gave him years ago with me that he left behind so I could return it to him. It's his and if I really am here to say goodbye, I don't want any reminders of him lying around in the woods. It doesn't take me long to find his house. He hasn't done too bad for himself either. I knock on the door but nobody answers so I walk across the street to wait for him.

"Mommy's nervous baby girl. She doesn't know this is going to go. Do you think you can be strong for us today?" I ask Melody and she coos and smiles in my arms. I bed down to give her a kiss and settle in to wait for Gale. After waiting almost an hour I'm about to give up when I see him. He looks older. A real man now but I still would know him anywhere. He doesn't see me and goes to unlock his door and I get an idea. I settle Melody gently down in the blankets next to me and string up an arrow in the bow. I let it fly and it hits the door right next to Gale's head. He knows I'm here now.

"Well I'll be Goddamned." I hear him say. I scoop up Melody and my bag and stand up ready for what is to come.

"What might I ask brings Katniss Everdeen to District 4?" He asks as he turns around to face me.

"Mellark." I say, I find myself very unsure of what to do.

"What?" he asks.

"It's Katniss Mellark now." I say and Gale begins to nod his head.

"I figured as much. Where is lover boy?" Gale asks.

"_Peeta_'s at my mother's,fixing up some things around the house." I make sure to emphasize Peeta's name so he knows I won't settle for any misgivings against my husband.

"So you guys are here to work on your mother's house?" He asks leaning against his house. His tone suggests that perhaps he thought I had come out here just to see him.

"No not exactly. We actually came out here to introduce our daughter to her." I say and shift Melody in my arms so she becomes visible to Gale. Gale drops whatever it was he had in his arms and stares at my wide eyed and then his expression changes to somewhat hurt before going back to surprise again. I realize now that he is probably thinking back to when he wanted to be with me and I refused to have children when he clearly wanted them. Now seeing me with a child, Peeta's child, is clearly not making him too happy.

"Look Gale, if this is too hard for you I can go. I fought with myself for days about whether or not to come here and see you and thought I could handle it so I came and

"Katniss,"

"I wanted to introduce you to my daughter and see you one more time but if it's just too much then tell me and I'll just go…"

"Katniss!" I stop ranting and look up at him. I notice that the kind, gentle face that I once knew has returned and he smiles at me and out stretches his hand to me.

"Why don't you come in, I would love to meet the little catnip." He says opening his door and I forward and go in. One look inside his house tells me this is a bachelor pad.

"I would have thought you would be married by now." I told him he shrugs.

"You weren't that easy to get over." I blush and turn my head. "Well…Gale this is my daughter Melody. Melody, this is your Uncle Gale." I say trying to lighten the mood.

"Wow….she's really beautiful Katniss. She looks just like you it's scary." Gale says smiling at my daughter.

"Thanks, yea we get that a lot don't we baby girl?" I say nuzzling my daughter with my nose causing her to smile.

"Would you look at that." Gale says.

"What?" I ask and he motions his hand up and down at the scene before him.

"You, a mom! From the looks of it a good one too. I always knew you would be. The way you used to take care of Pri…." He tails off unable to finish her name. If Prim's death was a taboo subject with my mother or Peeta, it definitely was with Gale, the person indirectly responsible for her death.

"Gale I…"

"No Katniss don't. There is nothing either of us could ever say that would make things right between us again. We both know it. You were the only person I could ever trust to be honest with me and I don't want that to stop now so don't pretend like this is ok because it isn't. You'll never forgive me and I'll never forgive myself for that happening but we can't change the past. So let's not pretend like you showing up here years later, married to the man I lost you to with his kid in your arms and apparently happy is going to change things between us. Let's not pretend like it's going to be anything like it was."

"Ok." I simply said. There was nothing else to say. He was right. Nothing either of us could ever say or do would make this right. Pretending otherwise would be a lie and that is one thing Gale and I don't do to each other, lie.

"Ok." He says.

"I brought you something." I say. "Can you hold her for a second?" I ask.

"I'm not sure…"

"Come on Gale, she doesn't bite. Yet." I say smiling at him. I hand Melody over to him and go to retrieve the bow and arrows I brought him.

"Hi there. You're going to be a heartbreaker you are." I hear Gale say. _Just like your mother_ I think to myself. I turn around and place the bow on the table.

"Here, it's yours." I say.

"That's not mine Katniss, it belongs to your family." Gale said.

"It is yours. I gave it to you." Gale knew better than to play these kinds of games with me. He knows how I feel about owing people. Given the current situation between us I don't want to owe Gale anything, which is why I want him to take his bow.

"I'm giving it to her then." He says motioning down to Melody. "I have no use for it here. What am I going to do? Shoot a fish? Consider it a gift from me to her." He says.

"Ok. Thank you. I'll make sure she knows who it's from." I say. "Do you have a bathroom I can use?" I ask him and he directs me to the back of the house. On my way back out, I realize that he is talking to Melody and I stop to listen.

"I meant what I said, about you being beautiful, even if you are half Mellark." He smirks at that last part and I make a disgusted face at him but continue to listen. "Listen, you are going to hear stories when you grow up. Stories about your mom and I in the woods, stories about the rebellion, and stories about…what I did. I want you to hear it from me that I never meant for it to happen. I still cry myself to sleep about it at night. I loved your Aunt Prim. I never meant to hurt her. I also love your Mommy very much and hurting her was the last thing I ever intended to do. She is never going to forgive me and I'll never forgive myself. Until today I thought it was the reason I didn't get to be with her. Now, seeing you, I realize it isn't. She is meant to be with your Daddy. Always was. I can see how much she loves you. I can tell you have given her life again. Put a light back in her eyes that I thought I had taken away forever. I don't know if you and I will ever meet again, but I'm happy I got to meet you and tell you these things. Good luck little catnip, take care of your Mommy for me." He then bends down to give my daughter a kiss on her forehead.

"That was beautiful." I say.

"You heard that?"

"Every word. Thank you. That means a lot. I'll make sure to tell her what you said when she's old enough to understand."

"Thanks. Hey, do you want some dinner? I don't have a lot but I'm sure I could whip something up."

"That would be great!" I said. We spent the rest of the evening talking. While we knew we couldn't run from our pasts, for a couple of hours it was like we were back in the woods of District 12 again. It was nice. We talked about nothing and everything. We caught each other up on our lives and the lives of family members and friends. All too soon it was getting dark and I knew that I should get Melody home so Peeta didn't worry about us.

"Well, it's getting late. I better head home." I said.

"Yea, well it was really nice to see you Katniss and even nicer to meet Melody. You're a great mom, just like I always knew you would be. Give your mother and Peeta my regards."

"Well, if you're ever in District 12…" I say.

"I'll look you up." He says.

"I'll be in the woods." This makes him smile.

"Take care of yourself."

"I will. Goodbye Gale." I say and I wrap my arms around him and embrace him tight.

"Goodbye Catnip." He says returning my embrace. With that I take Melody and turn and walk out the door and don't look back. I don't know if I will ever see the boy with the snares again, but should this be the last we meet, I am comfortable with how things are between us now.

When I get home Peeta is waiting for me on the porch and comes out to meet us. I wrap my arms around him, so thankful for him even more than ever.

"I love you so much do you know that?" I ask him.

"I love you too." He says. "How was it?" He asks. "Hi baby girl! Daddy missed you today!" Peeta says taking Melody who is just as happy to see him.

"It was…good. I mean, it's never going to be like it was between us and we know that but we're….ok. He's _very_ jealous of you by the way." I say throwing a smirk in there at the end.

"He is is he? And why would that be?" He asks playfully wrapping one around my waste and pulling me close.

"Because you got me of course!" I say trying to pretend to be hurt.

"Oh I guess you are a pretty fair prize." He says jokingly as I slap his arm. Just then Melody blows a raspberry at him and I can't help but laugh.

"That's my girl! You tell Daddy to be nice to Mommy!" I say nuzzling her tummy.

"Hey! That's no fair! I'm being double teamed!" We go back into the house laughing all the way.

We made sure that we stopped by and spent some time with Annie and little Finn on our last day in District 4. I couldn't believe how big little Finn was getting! Or how much he looked like his father. Annie was doing very well. I thank God that she has little Finn or else I'm not sure she would have been able to carry on after the loss of Finnick in the rebellion. Finn and Melody play together on the floor as the three of us sit around and update each other on our lives.

"Having fun with your future wife there Finn?" Annie jokes!

"Melody Odair. That has a nice ring to it." I joke.

"OH NO!" Peeta exclaims immediately jumping into overprotective father mode. "She's not dating until she's thirty!"

"We'll just have to encourage them to elope!" Annie says!

"I'll get the ladder!" I joke. I can't help but laugh at how red Peeta's face has gotten. Teenage years are sure going to be fun in our house!

It's hard to say goodbye to my mother but we promise to get together at least once a year so she can see Melody. She says she is going to come and see us for her birthday. I told her I would look forward to it and we shared a long hug before we parted. On the way home we stopped in 7 and saw Johanna. She's married now and expecting twins in the fall. I'm very happy for her. She deserves to be happy after all she's been through.

We finally make it home and are all so exhausted that night we go straight to bed. It was a wonderful trip to see everybody. I feel so glad to be in a good place with my mother finally and to be on some kind of common ground with Gale. Peeta and I just let Melody sleep in between us tonight and I see that they have both already fallen asleep. His arm layed over her protectively and I lay my arms over her in the same fashion. Together we drift peacefully off to sleep.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! There is going to be at least 1 more chapter! Stay tuned for it!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

A/N: Thank you all so much for all the wonderful reviews! I have given up trying to tell you how many more chapters there are going to be because at this point I don't really know. I know do now know that the "first hunting trip" is going to be its own stand alone chapter. I am also toying with the idea of doing a chapter where it is told from Peeta's point of view. I also have ideas floating around in my head for at least 1 other chapter also but since they are so disjointed and my not even happen I don't want to get you all hyped and then not do it. Also, I would like to give a special shout out to **KeepCalmAndSayAlways** that was the sweetest review ever! And it truly made my day!

Summary: It is Melody's first birthday and as Katniss prepares for milestone she also takes time to reflect on other "firsts" for her in that year.

_Deep in the meadow, under the willow _

_A bed of grass, a soft green pillow_

_Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes_

_And when again they open, the sun will rise_

_Here it's safe, here it's warm_

_Here the daisies guard you from every harm_

_Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true_

_Here is the place where I love you_

_Deep in the meadow, hidden far away_

_A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray_

_Forget your woes and let your troubles lay_

_When again it's morning, they'll wash away_

_Here it's safe, here it's warm_

_Here the daisies guard you from every harm_

_Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true_

_Here is the place where I love you_

I kiss my now sleeping daughter Melody on her forehead like I do every evening after I sing her to sleep with the old lullaby. I love watching my daughter sleep. I could probably sit there the entire night and watch her do it. So as per my usual I simply sit in the old rocking chair in my room and rock her for a while before laying her in her crib for the night. Usually this is mindless time for me but tonight my mind is racing. In about four hours my Melody will be a year old. I am very much struggling with that idea as I sit here and watch her sleep. I find myself unable to fully believe she has been with me for a year already but at the same time I also find it hard to remember life without her now. Has it really been a year? I think back to a year ago today. This time last year I was not a happy camper. This beautiful little creature in my arms was the cause of some great pain for me and now that I think about it, probably some for Peeta and Haymitch too. I smirk quietly to myself about that one.

I remember that first night after she was born. I was exhausted but I couldn't bring myself to find sleep. All I could do was sit and hold her and stare at her, unable to believe that I had helped create such an amazingly beautiful creature and I found myself so overwhelmed with emotion. I had never felt love like this before. It was not like the love I had for Peeta, not like the love I had for my friends, not even like the love I had for my sister. This was new. This tiny little person in my arms was my entire reason for being. The love I felt for her, was so deep run inside me I felt like it was now what was providing life to me and should I ever lose this, I would be unable to live. Which was also why that night, I couldn't take my eyes off of her, I was so afraid that while I slept something horrible would happen to her. That horrible infant death that my mother had been sought out for far too many times in my childhood came to mind. I also had fears of someone coming in a stealing my daughter in the middle of the night, my mind even went as far as to imagine some wild animal coming in and stealing her from me. I must have run through a million and half improbable scenarios that would somehow bring harm to my daughter, when Peeta came into the room.

"Darling, don't you think you should get some rest? From everything I've ever heard for the next few weeks we should take as much sleep as we can get." He asked me wrapping his arms around my shoulders and kissing my head.

"I can't sleep Peeta. What if she needs me?" I asked.

"I'm sure she'll let us know if she needs anything." He says with a small chuckle.

"No I mean, what if while I'm sleeping, something happens to her? What if someone comes in and takes her? What if something falls over her face and she can't breathe? What if…."

"Katniss, Katniss, my love calm down. Everything is going to be fine trust me. Those are just new mom anxieties and believe me I understand. I can't even imagine what I would do if anything ever happened to her but I also know, that in order for us to be there to protect her we need to get our rest. If you want, she can sleep with us tonight if that will help you." He said nuzzling my neck with his head. I look up at this amazing man and wonder how I ever got so lucky as to have him for my own.

"Ok," I say. I couldn't deny that I was exhausted. Childbirth had proven to be a little bit more strenuous then hunting. We got Melody settled in between us in bed and both laid down simply staring at her.

"Look at her," I said with a smile running my finger across her soft cheek.

"I know," Peeta said. "Can you believe we made her?" He took our daughter's tiny hand in his.

"Not at all, she's so perfect." I said.

"She got that from you." Peeta said and I gave him a look.

"Peeta I am anything but perfect."

"You're perfect to me and you are perfect to her. That's all that counts." He said leaning in to kiss me. I shake my head and kiss him back and we both lean down to kiss Melody's head before settling in for the night. We entwine our fingers and place them on our daughter's stomach protectively and fall asleep to the sound of her breathing.

Peeta had been right that we needed our rest to get through the first couple of weeks. Melody was an excellent baby. But the anxieties of new parenthood were stressful. Peeta always woke up with me in the middle of the night when Melody needed fed even though I told him it wasn't necessary. About three in the morning Melody would usually wake up to be fed. So as per usual at about three AM I heard her start to fuss and felt her stir next to me. Even though she had a crib she spent most nights in bed with Peeta and I. A horrible habit I knew but I loved knowing she was next to me and I could protect her if she needed me to and Peeta felt the same way.

"Ok baby girl, Mommy hears you, I know you're hungry." I said picking her up, arranging my shirt and positioning her on my breast. She quieted down as soon as she started suckling and I sat there humming softly to her while she ate. Peeta then sat up next to me.

"Time to eat my little love?" Peeta asked bending down to kiss the top of her head.

"Peeta, I've told you before you don't have to get up for this." I say resting my head on his shoulder.

"I feel bad that I can't share this with you. That you have to do it all yourself."

"I'd be concerned if you could." I say jokingly and he gives me a playful swat on the leg. "That's all part of being a mom Peeta and I love every second of it," I say. "Tell you what, if it makes you feel better, you can change all her diapers from now on." I say with a smirk.

"See you in the morning Katniss," Peeta says playfully as he turns over and goes back to sleep and I can't help but laughing.

"Daddy's silly." I say to Melody tickling her tummy a little.

While Melody was an amazingly calm baby who rarely cried I could think of one instance right after Melody was born that she proved she could scream like no other. She was two days old and it was time for her first bath. I was filling up the kitchen sink with warm water to bathe her in and Peeta was holding her in his arms.

"Mommy and Daddy are gonna make Melody all squeaky clean and you're gonna smell all pretty." He was cooing to her. I loved watching him interact with her. He was such a good father already and reminded me a lot of mine. I was glad that my daughter has a father who was going to dote on her and make it a point to spend time with her during the day and build a relationship with her.

"Alright it's ready. Come on baby! Let's get clean!" I say taking Melody and gently lowering her down into the water. The child's feet had barely touched the water before she started screaming. My first reaction was that I had somehow hurt her, the water was too hot and burned her or I even pinched her somehow but I knew that neither of these was the case and that she was just simply frightened of the sensation of water on her skin.

"Hey baby girl it's ok," I said to her as I gently began to rub soap on her body. This only made her scream even louder.

"Melody, sweetheart calm down," Peeta said gently rubbing her back.

"I think calming her down is a lost cause." I said to Peeta. "Ok, ok, Mommy's going as fast as she can!" I said to her. "Shhh, shhh, _Deep in the meadow, under the willow, a bed of grass, a soft green pillow…" _I began to sing to her and immediately she calmed down. "See, it's not so bad." I said tickling her tummy a little.

"Is there anything you can't silence with your voice?" Peeta asks me.

"What are you talking about? Can you hand me her towel? See, Mommy told you she was almost done." I said wrapping Melody in it and handing her to Peeta so I could drain the sink.

"I've told you before, that when you sing even the birds stop to listen to you. Our child was hysterical and you started singing and bam, she's instantly calm." He says laughing as he walks off.

"Coincidence!" I shout after him cleaning up the mess that was made by a flailing infant in the kitchen. I finished cleaning up and went upstairs to Melody's room where Peeta was getting her dressed and placing small kisses and raspberries on her stomach.

"Daddy loves his Melody, yes he does! He loves her sooo much!" Peeta said kissing Melody's stomach again. "I'm gonna get that tummy! I'm gonna get it!" He continued blowing raspberries on it. I loved watching him interact with our daughter. It was so amazing to see how happy he was and how in love with her he is.

"How did you become such an amazing father?" I asked him walking up behind him and wrapping my arms around him.

"I don't know, how did you become such an amazing mother?" He asked kissing my head.

"No idea." I said nuzzling his neck.

I continued to rock Melody who was completely dead to the world and a look at the clock told me that I had another three hours before my baby girl would be a year old. Remembering those precious early moments with her, it made me sad to think that she was growing up, but there were some things about her growing up that just made me completely melt. I remember about a month after her first bath, Peeta and I were giving her another one like we did every other night since her first. She really seemed to enjoy baths now and we made them into fun time. Afterwards we were dressing her in our room and tickling her tummy and I had just blown a raspberry on her stomach when she smiled at me.

"Oh my God Peeta! Did you see that? She smiled! She smiled at me!" I exclaimed! "You smiled baby girl!" I bent down to kiss her cheeks and she began smiling at me again.

"Look at you baby girl!" Peeta said bending down to kiss her stomach and she smiled back at him in return.

"Can you believe this?" I asked him. All three of us stood there smiling at each other. If I had thought seeing her smile for the first time was exciting, it compared nothing to the first time she said "Mama." Peeta was at the bakery and I was sitting on the living room floor holding my now eight month old Melody up so she could stand, her new favorite activity.

"I love my Melody. Yes I do! Mommy loves her Melody." I said bouncing her up and down lightly. She smiled at me then laid her head down on my shoulder and I cradled her like I did when she was an infant.  
>"You are growing up to fast missy! What do you have to say for yourself?" I ask kissing her head not expecting any sort of reply minus her usual coos and gurgles.<p>

"Ma…ma," My heart skipped half a beat. There was no way I heard what I thought I just heard. I held her out so I could look at her. It was truly amazing how much this child looked like just a mini version of me.

"If I didn't know better kiddo I would think you just said something…" Just then the telephone rang, no doubt it was my mother who called every other day to ask how Melody was so I set her on the floor so I could go and answer it.

"I'll be right back baby." I said and she started to fuss a bit, she was extremely attached to me even more so then usual these days and my mother told me it was just a phase that all children usually go through it. "I'll be right back!" I said to her and just as I reach the doorway I hear it again.

"Mama!" I stopped dead in my tracks, there was no denying it this time. I turned on my heels, my mother or whoever could call back when my child wasn't saying her first word. Melody was sitting on the floor right where I had left her, she was sitting up on her own now but hadn't yet really made an attempt to mobilize herself and she started giggling obviously proud of herself for getting my attention. She raises her little hand and points to me, another new skill she has recently learned, and laughs as she says,

"Mama!" At this my heart completely melts and I rush over and scoop her up in my arms.  
>"Oh baby girl! You said your first word!" I placed several kisses on her cheek.<p>

"Mama!" She squealed laughing clearly proud of her latest accomplishment. My daughter had said her first word, _I_ had been her first word! I couldn't believe it! Every day I swear that I will never feel such pride and joy as I did with her at that moment but she always manages to do something else that changes that.

"You're growing up too fast kid." I say placing my forehead against hers. In the weeks that followed other words started to come, hi, bye, no, and for some reason shoe. I remember the first time she said "Dada" I thought Peeta was going to explode with happiness. I had called him at the bakery to tell him that she had said her first word and he was elated, he was always elated when the syllables of real words would come out of her mouth but I couldn't help but feel a little bad that she was calling me "Mama" right left and center and he hadn't yet gotten to experience the feeling of having his child say his name. Peeta and I were just sitting in the living room playing with Melody one evening before bed and she was babbling with an occasional word in between.

"Can you believe she's started talking?" I ask Peeta.

"I know. We're in trouble now! Yes, we are aren't we!" Peeta said crawling towards Melody and tickling her stomach.

"No!" She said laughing shaking her head.

"Oh I think we are!" Peeta said gently laying her down and kissing her cheek and tickling her tummy and I started laughing and taking in this beautiful family moment and all of a sudden I heard it.

"Dada!" Melody squealed out in between laughs. Peeta must have heard it too because he stopped dead in his tracks as I had done when she had first said my name.

"What my love?" He asked her.

"Dada!" She squealed again and began squirming around and he picked her up.

"You just said Dada! She just said Dada Katniss!" He said elated and holding her above his head and bringing her down to kiss her repeatedly making her laugh more.

"I heard! I heard you say your daddy's name!" I say coming up behind him and kissing her as well.

"Mama! Dada!" Melody squealed in between laughs. It was a beautiful moment, that I would cherish forever.

Melody beginning to speak was an amazing. Every day she would pick up new syllables and try and say new words. Often they didn't come out quite right but she would always try her hardest. Beginning to speak was just one of the things that signified to us she was growing up. I ran into a different problem not long after this, she was starting to get teeth. As a result of this, breast feeding her was becoming increasingly difficult. I called my mother to ask what I should to and she told me it was time to start introducing her to regular food. She told me how to crush up different foods. I followed my mother's instructions and when Peeta got home that night we placed Melody in an old high chair we had bought for her and began to try and get her to eat. At first it was not successful at all as we couldn't get her to open her mouth and all we were accomplishing was getting mashed vegetables all over the place.

"Melody you have to open your mouth see, watch Mommy." I said to her placing the spoon with mashed up vegetables to my mouth and opening to take a bite. "See, it's yummy!" I say to her then attempted to feed her again. This time, after seeing me do it she opened her mouth and took a bite. She immediately made a face of disgust and spit out everything that had gone into her mouth right onto Peeta and I. She proceeds to laugh at us.

"Well that went well." I said wiping my face with a towel. "Not funny Melody!" I say to my still giggling daughter even though I know we must look pretty silly covered in

"Try the berries, they might taste a bit better." Peeta said trying to mop up the vegetables from his hair. I try again but Melody is reluctant to open her mouth again after the vegetables. Peeta finally manages to coax her mouth open enough for me to get the spoon in. She initially makes a face at the berries and I ready myself for a mashed berry shower but she keeps it in her mouth and swallows then opens her mouth for more.

"She likes it Peeta! You like the berries baby?" I say and she begins to bounce up and down with her mouth open.

"Yea she does! She's saying 'give me more Mommy!'" Peeta jokes. By the end of the week we have her down to only nursing at night before bed and in the afternoon before her nap.

I'm still rocking Melody at five minutes to midnight, I just can't seem to bring myself to put her down tonight. Thinking back on all those firsts with her, I want to be here with her the moment it becomes her first birthday.

"You still in here?" I hear Peeta from the doorway as he comes over and wraps his arms around me and strokes Melody's hair. "Her hair is really starting to get long." He says.

"I can't believe she's going to be one Peeta." I say resting my head back against him.

"I know, I've been thinking about it all day. They really do grow up too fast."

"That's for sure." I say running my finger across her cheek. The clock downstairs chimes to let us know it's midnight.

"Happy Birthday baby girl," Peeta and I whisper together and we bend down to kiss Melody's head. She stirs slightly but nestles back into me quickly not even waking, not realizing the significance of today.

"Come on my love, we all need to get some sleep for tomorrow." I nod and Peeta leads me into our room, knowing that this is one of those nights that we need to have our daughter with us and we all drift off to sleep, dreaming of every magical moment we've had this past year.

The next morning, my mother arrives to watch Melody while Peeta and I set up for her birthday party. Melody gets very excited to see her as we have taken Melody to visit her several times since she was born.

"Happy Birthday sweet girl! Nana missed you!" My mother says scooping Melody up and showering her with hugs and kisses. I smile at this picture before me, it does me great good to see my mother smile again. I'm glad that I was able to give her something that could bring some happiness to her life again. She comes over to me next and wraps her arms around me.

"How are you?" she asked me tucking my hair behind my ear.

"I'm good how are you?" I ask hugging her back reveling in the feeling of her arms around me for a minute.

"I'm fine. I am." I know it was hard for my mother to come back to District Twelve. I told her she didn't have to that Peeta and I would bring Melody to her house and we would have our own celebration but she insisted that she wasn't going to miss her granddaughter's first birthday party. "Let me know when you are finished setting up and I'll braid your hair for you." I smile at her and kiss Melody's head before I go finish setting up. Peeta and I set up and my mother elaborately braids my hair before any of the other guests I have invited show up. Greasey Sae and some other of my old District Twelve friends from before the rebellion show up first. They all hug me, Peeta, and Melody before digging into the food and begin gossiping with each other. My mother immediately goes over to them and I'm glad to see her with her old friends again. My old prep teams shows up next, I knew that if word got out I had a party, even one as simple as this and they knew they weren't invited they would have had a fit, and I actually considered them to be friends and genuinely wanted them here. After distressing over the horrible state of my fingernails they launch onto fawning over Melody, who according to them has not one single flaw and is going to grow up to be the most beautiful lady in Panem. Melody seems to like them, or at least their eccentric hair colors though and it makes me smile to how loved she is. Effie shows up next followed closely by Johanna, Annie, and little Finn. Haymitch comes wandering over a little later, not quite sober but closer then I've seen him in a while, wearing his best suit and freshly shaven.

"Well, well, well, look what the dog dragged in." I say hugging him. "You didn't have to get all dressed up for me!" I say teasingly.

"I wouldn't waste the effort sweetheart," he jokes "but I didn't want to look like a mule for my goddaughter's first birthday! There she is!" Haymitch says and Melody outreaches her tiny arms to him.

"Haymie! Haymie!" She says, her name for Haymitch.

"Just look at you! You look beautiful little sweetheart!" Haymitch says. Peeta comes up and wraps and arm around me and we watch the scene, Haymitch has a special bond with Melody and she adores him and it makes us happy to see that. The party turns out to be a big hit. Everyone demands to see the cake but Peeta refuses, he worked on it for three days and I haven't even seen it yet. We were just about to settle down to open presents when the door opened again and I about dropped the empty food plates in my hand.

"Hey Catnip, and I late for the party?"

"Gale…what are you doing here?" I ask

"Uh…you invited me remember?" I had sent Gale an invitation but I didn't actually think he would show up but I was so happy he did. I ran and wrapped my arms around him.

"Thank you so much for coming! It means so much to me to have you here!" It really did. Everyone I loved, or everyone I loved who had the ability to be here was here.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world Katniss." Gale came in and said hello to everyone, he was even cordial with Peeta. I handed Melody to him and he bounced her on his knee and she seemed to really enjoy that.

"Happy birthday little Catnip!" he said. We opened presents after that. Melody received several toys from the District Twelve guests, my mother had made her a beautiful quilt with a mockingjay on it, Haymitch had bought her a rocking horse, Effie and my prep team all bought her ridiculous outfits that Peeta and I would have to try on her just for a laugh, Gale got a small doll. Peeta and I had bought her a few new toys and a locket which was engraved with "My Melody" inside it. The cake was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Peeta had truly outdone himself. The cake was several layers with elaborate designs and at the top sat a mockingjay which I know was meant to be me singing to a little frosting version of Melody and it tasted just as amazing. Melody ended up with more of her slice on her face then in her mouth I think but everyone couldn't help but smile at her.

"Well someone is getting a bath tonight!" I said jokingly as I attempted to wipe her face when she was done. Peeta and I bid farewell to everyone and thanked them all for coming, and after they all kissed Melody one last time and she had been bathed to get all the frosting off of her, we started to clean up while she played with her new toys. After we were done we sat down in the living room across from each other. She was standing against Peeta and we were talking about the party and how Haymitch had gotten so drunk at one point he had smashed his cake on Effie's face and kissed her.

"Oh good times." I say out loud. "What are you doing baby girl? Did you have a good birthday?" I ask her and she smiles at me.

"Mommy," She said.

"Yes baby," I replied. Then she did something unexpected and pushed off Peeta. She had been standing on her own a little lately but wasn't that fond of it. Then she really surprised me by picking up her foot and placing it in front of her.

"Oh my God! Peeta are you seeing this?" I ask as Melody regained her balance.

"Yea I saw it I was imagining it." Melody then places her other foot in front of her and begins to wobbly walk towards me. I out reach my arms and the smile spreads all the way across my face.

"Look at you baby girl! You're walking!" Melody reaches my arms and jumps up and down in excitement. I turn her around and tell her to walk back to Peeta.

"Keep going! Go to Daddy!" She does too. She's still a bit wobbly but she goes to him and he wraps his arms around her when she arrives at her destination.

"My baby is walking!" We continue this game for half an hour or so. Melody stumbles and falls a few times but we pick her back up and she starts going again. We are so proud and in shock at this latest development we just stare wide eyed at our daughter. As she reaches my outstretched arms the last time before we put her to bed, I realize that while I was sad she was growing up, it just meant that a whole new world of firsts was headed my way and I couldn't wait to experience every last one of them with her.

A/N: Sorry for the delay with this chapter school got crazy. I hope you liked it and please review and let me know what you thought and what you would like to see!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I didn't get hardly any reviews guys! Did you not like the last chapter?  
>Disclaimer: I own nothing<br>Summary: Gale watches Melody and a terrifying accident follows.

I am vaguely aware that it is morning as I lay in my bed losing the battle to open my eyes and begin the day. Peeta has already gone to the bakery; he wanted to get there so he could close early because Gale is coming tonight. He has to go to Thirteen for a business meeting and asked if he could spend the night here and of course we agreed. I hadn't seen him for over a year because at Melody's last birthday he had been away on some sort of secret mission. That could have been my life if I had wanted I suppose. I could have done the soldier thing, I was more than equipped to do the job, but I resented the idea of taking yet another life and taking orders for that matter so it was a life style that never would have worked out. No, I was much happier here at _home_ in District Twelve with my amazing husband and beautiful daughter. Speaking of which, I could distinctly hear the sound of little feet pitter pattering down the hallway. I smiled to myself and knew that I was going to have to force my eyes to open soon because my day was about to begin. Sure enough not five seconds later my bedroom door opened and I felt something jump on top of me.

"Mommy! Mommy! Time get up!" I pretended to still be asleep trying to hide a smile.

"Mommy? Mommy you got get up!" Melody bent down to try and see my face and I made my move. I jumped up at her and mock attacked her, tickling her tummy and kissing her face.

"I'm gonna get you!" I said to her as she laughed.

"Mommy! Don't get me!" Melody laughed and I rolled over and pulled her close to me for a quick snuggle.

"Don't get you? Ok I won't. I'll just kiss you! Did you sleep good my little love?" I asked placing kisses on her head. She wrapped her little arms around my neck and smiled at me.

"Yes Mommy. Where Daddy?"

"Daddy went to work early because your Uncle Gale is coming to visit tonight." I tell her.

"Uncle Gale coming tonight?"

"Uh huh. Are you hungry?"

"Yes!"

"What would you like?" I ask trying to tame the ruffled mass of hair on her head.

"Cookies!" I eye her.

"Uh try again?" I say snorting back a laugh knowing where that response came from.

"Daddy give Meldy cookie for beckfast!" She says stubbornly.

"Oh really? Let Mommy catch Daddy doing that. Let's try this again, what would you like?

"Pancakes!"

"Ok, that I can do. Let's go ragamuffin! Mommy's got to straighten up this house it looks like a bomb went off." I say picking her up and carrying Melody to the kitchen. I set her down on the floor in the living room to play with her toys while I went to make us both some pancakes.

"Melody, time to eat baby loves." I call to her from the kitchen setting a book on her seat as she wasn't quite tall enough to reach the table on her own yet. When she doesn't come I call after her again. "Melody! I swear what are you doing now child?" I ask shaking my head and going into the living room to look for her. When I get to the living room I see that all her toys have been piled into her toy box in such a way that the lid would never close, though she tried, and things in the room straightened just off enough that would suggest a child tried to do it.

"I cleaned Mommy!" She tells me proud of her work. My heart melts and I bend down and hold my arms out to her.

"Oh baby girl! You did! Thank you very much! You did a great job! Mommy loves you so much!" I say picking her up and wrapping her in my arms. Sometimes I can't believe my baby girl is three years old now. I often find myself looking at her, especially when she does things like this and wondering where my baby went and longing to have those days back for a few moments.

"I love you too Mommy." She says kissing my cheek. Then she does things like that and I'm so glad to be her mom and get to watch her grow up that I can't wait to see what she does when she gets even older.

Once I get Melody down for her nap I go back and straighten up the living room and actually get the lid on her toy box and clean and manage to clean a few other things around the house before she wakes up. I take her outside after that to wait for Gale to arrive and get out some of the sidewalk chalk Peeta and I had gotten her the previous weekend. We drew pictures on the sidewalk outside our house and I spelled out our names and wrote "Mommy loves Melody" in big letters. Gale arrived shortly after four.

"Hey there Catnip!" He said walking up the street. I looked up and smiled at him, happy to see my old friend. "Hey there little Catnip! Man look how big you're getting!" He said to Melody who got shy and buried her head in my shoulder.

"Don't remind me! Hey!" I said bouncing her a little. "You're not shy, say hello." I tell her. She waves her little hand at Gale but keeps her head buried in my neck. Gale and I talk outside for awhile and Melody still clings to me.

"I'm sorry Gale she doesn't usually act like this." I wonder what has gotten into Melody, she was usually really friendly towards everyone just like Peeta, she had a way with Peeta. This was one area, where my daughter wasn't like me.

"It's ok, she probably doesn't remember me. Hey, is that chalk? Can I play?" Gale asked trying to talk to Melody. She thought about it for a minute then looked at me and I nodded my head and she got down and took some chalk to Gale to play with. Peeta got home about ten minutes later and Kathryn, who had warmed up just fine to Gale now ran down the ran down the sidewalk to meet him.

"Daddy!" She yelled holding her arms out to him.

"Stay on the sidewalk and don't run in the road!" Not that any carts or anything frequented this part of town but I was still a bit over protrective.

"Hi baby girl! Daddy missed you today!" Peeta said scooping her up and carrying her back over.

"Hey Gale! How's it going?" Peeta asked.

"Not bad man, yourself?"

"Oh you know, life's pretty perfect. Hi darling, how are you?" Peeta asked bending down to kiss me on the lips.

"Good," I say kissing him back. "Dinner is almost ready, I need to wash her hands she was playing with chalk."

"I'll do it." Peeta said kissing me again before taking Melody inside. "Daddy brought home fresh cookies!"

"Good! She should have breakfast for the week then." I say with mock seriousness and he turns his head and pretends like there is something pressing in the house he has to tend to knowing he's been caught.

"I'm not sleeping in and letting him get her breakfast anymore! He gives her cookies! What's wrong?" I ask Gale who has his head down.

"I don't know." He says.

"You don't know what's wrong?"

"No, I don't know what it's like to have a perfect life. He got the life I wanted." He said staring at the ground.

"Oh Gale, I thought we were over that, that you were good with this?" I ask him.

"I'm good with it because I have to be but I don't think I'll ever get over you or ever stop hating him a little bit for getting the life I always wanted. But you're happy Katniss, and if you are happy I'm happy because that is what I wanted more than anything, for you to be happy. So what's for dinner?"

The mood during dinner was a lot lighter than before. We all joked and updated each other on our lives. After dinner we played with Melody in the living room and somehow the topic of our love lives came up and Peeta and I mentioned how we hadn't been out for an evening alone together in we didn't know how long.

"That's just sad guys!" Gale said.

"Well, we can't exactly just go off and leave her! I mean we love Haymitch but a drunk doesn't make the best babysitter." I joke.

"Tell you what, I'll watch the stinker tonight and you guys go out and have a good time and enjoy yourselves and have some you time!"

"Oh no Gale we couldn't…"

"No I insist!"

After forty five minutes of me going over everything I thought Gale would possibly need to know about how to take care of Melody for an hour and a half I am finally walking out the door.

"Oh and if she needs…"

"Katniss, I think I got it!" Gale says to me.

"She's just really protective. I don't think we've ever left her with anybody before." Peeta says.

"Ok baby girl, Mommy and Daddy are going to go out for a little while and you are going to stay here with Uncle Gale and play. When Mommy get's home she'll read you a story and tuck you in ok?" I tell Melody still unsure of leaving her.

"Meldy go too." She said.

"No no, Melody stays here. Mommy will be back really soon." I could see the tears welling up in Melody's eyes and she started to whimper.

"You'll be just fine baby girl." Peeta said to her. "We'll be right back. You just stay here and have fun." As I go to walk out the door Melody is full on crying.

"No, Mommy….Mommy stay!" I want nothing more than to just stay right here with her but Gale scoops Melody, who is trying to cling to my up and she really starts crying and pushes us out the door.

"You guys go on, we'll be fine. They'll be back!" He tells her. I feel horrible as I walk down the street with Peeta.

"I feel like a horrible mother." I tell him.

"I know, that wasn't the prettiest thing in the world but it was going to have to happen sooner or later. She'll be fine darling. We could use the time to us anyway." He says kissing my neck and I know he is right, something in my stomach just doesn't feel right about leaving her but I try to push it aside and enjoy the rare private moment I have with Peeta.

Gale POV

"Mommy! Mommy!" Melody had been screaming for Katniss for the past ten minutes and I had no idea how to make her stop. "Hey, kiddo, Mommy is going to be back really soon. She just went out with your dad for a while. Maybe I don't want this." I say glad I didn't have to contend with a kid screaming my ear off every day. "I know! Let's go outside and play!" I take Melody outside and decide to take her into the woods. I figured that this was probably something Katniss did on a regular basis and that it might calm her. I notice that large portions of the old fence are missing and half chuckle to myself.

"Gale, is that you?" I hear a voice from behind me. It's a girl whom I had gone through school with and would have given much more thought had Katniss not been around. "Hey! How are you doing?" I asked the girl. I placed Melody down and she played in the meadow and seemed to calm down. I was still talking to the girl when I heard the kid say,

"Oh Gale! Bunny!" She was pointing into the woods and I saw the tail of a bunny rabbit. "Yeah, go get the bunny rabbit" I say to her and go back to talking with the girl. I wasn't even aware that Melody hadn't come back for about twenty minutes when my friend had to leave.

"Alright kid let's get you home. Melody? Melody!" I called after her but she didn't come. "Melody! Melody where are you?" I called again and again but she didn't come. I went into the woods and searched all around in the immediate area but the child was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh…shit." Was all I could get out before I headed back out of the woods to go and try and find some help. I ran back to Katniss's house and found Haymitch outside.

"Haymitch! Haymitch you got to help me! I was watching Melody and we were by the woods and she went in and I wasn't paying attention and now she's gone and I can't find her and Katniss is going to kill me…." I say not knowing what to do.

"Woah woah woah slow down! You lost her? How could you do that?"

"I don't know I was talking to this girl and…"

"Oh holy fucking hell you got to be kidding me! You lost her in the woods! Katniss never takes her into the woods!"

"I figured she did because…"

"Well you figured wrong! The only thing you figured right is Katniss is going to kill you, that is if I don't do it first! Come bring your worthless ass and let's go look for her!" Haymitch comes and helps me look for Melody but we are unsuccessful.

"How far could she actually have gone?" I ask now really panicking.

"Where did they go? We need to go and find them and tell them what's happened." Haymitch says. We head into town and find them soon enough. Katniss immediately notices something's wrong and jumps up.

"What's wrong? Is Melody alright? Wait where is...she?" Katniss asks looking confused at first. I didn't know how to say it and I froze up…

"Mr. Genius here had her out by the woods and got distracted by some girl and wasn't paying attention and she wanted off into the woods and now we can't find her." Haymitch said for me. Katniss's face turned from confusion to fear to rage all in about the course of two seconds and she was pounding on me with her fists the next.

"YOU DID WHAT?" She and Peeta screamed at me at the same time.

Katniss POV:

I knew something was wrong the moment I saw Gale and Haymitch coming towards me. I became horrified when I saw Melody wasn't with them. I became numb when Gale said he had lost her and she was somewhere in the woods. By herself. Lost. I started off beating him with my fists for a few seconds before making a be-line to the woods to try and find my daughter. Peeta caught my arm and suggested we go and get some help because it was getting dark and we needed as many eyes out there looking for Melody as we could. I somehow found it in me to agree to this and within ten minutes we had most of District Twelve out in the woods looking for her. I was out with Peeta, Haymitch, and Gale and calling my daughter's name repeatedly.

"Melody! Melody! Melody where are you? Melody please!" I screamed over and over again, each time getting no response only the far off echoes of similar calls from helpers or the occasional response from a mockingjay. It was pitch black within an hour and the group returned to the meadow to regroup. No one had found anything and I felt myself start to lose it.

"This isn't happening! This can't be happening! How could you do this Gale? How? I can't lose her! I can't! She's everything! I can't…" Just then I hear a crack of thunder, a bolt of lightning, and the distant howl of a wild dog. I can't tell if what I feel on my face are raindrops or tears. Peeta pulls me into my arms but is for the first time in his life, lost for words. He is just as scared as I am and obviously just as mad at Gale because the next thing I know he is on top of him and pounding his face. It takes three men to pull Peeta off.

"Alright! Everyone just calm down!" Haymitch begins to speak to everyone and establishes another search plan and the people head out again, this time into pouring rain, pitch blackness, and the howls of dangers in the woods. I am told to stay here because in my hysterical state I'm no good helping anything. Peeta sits on the porch with me and holds me close to him.

"I can't lose her Peeta." I say.

"I know. It's going to be ok Katniss. We'll find her. She can't have wandered too far."

"I'm never going to forgive him Peeta! He takes everything I love away from me! God Peeta, she's so scared! I know she is! And she's probably cold and thirsty and wondering why I haven't come to find her! Oh God…" I bury my head in Peeta's shoulder and try to figure something out in my head. Of course I don't sleep at all that night nor does Peeta. Apparently someone phoned my mother last night and she had arrived by morning. It is still raining and I demand to be in the next search group. We head a different direction to start with and I again call out to Melody.

"Melody! Melody please answer me baby! If you can hear me answer Mommy! Melody!" About five mintues later I am about to just curl up on the forest floor and scream when I hear it. It is a little ways away but I hear it.

"Mommy!" My head shoots up and I take off in the direction of her voice.

"Melody?" I call out to her.

"Mommy! Mommy!" I see a drop off a little ways up ahead and stop and look down to see Melody laying at the bottom of it, her leg bent at a funny angle, covered in mud.

"MELODY!" I scream and jump down and immediately take her in my arms crying with relief.

"Mommy!" She starts crying hysterically and buries her head in my shoulder. I stay like this with her for a few moments. I know that the rest of the part has returned to the designated meeting spot and I need to get Melody home but I can't seem to move. I thought I had lost her.

"Melody Mommy is so sorry! Are you ok?"

"Mommy I so scared! Mommy my leg hurts! Mommy never leave again!"

"Never again baby! Mommy's never going to leave you ever again! It's ok, Mommy's going to make it all better!" I scooped her up in my arms walked back out to the meadow and everyone saw me and saw I had Melody in my arms and came running over. Peeta somehow ran faster than I would have thought possible and wrapped his arms around us.

"Oh Melody! Oh my baby! Are you ok?" He asked.

"Daddy I scared! Daddy it hurts!" I knew we needed to get her to the house so I could see what was wrong with her. I thanked everyone quickly and then headed for my house. I instruct Haymitch not to let anyone but my mother in and I set Melody down on the kitchen table.

"Show Mommy and Daddy where it hurts?" I say to her and she immediately points to her leg which even I can tell is broken. My heart breaks all over again. My baby has a broken leg and it's all my fault because I left her. I also see that she has cuts all over her that I need to clean so they don't get infected. My mother comes in and I move over to let her see.

"Oh dear, let Nana look at you Melody." My mother looks Melody over, Peeta holding one of her little hands and I holding the other.

"Well? How bad is it?" I ask my mother.

"Her leg is broken, it looks like a clean break though so it should heal quickly once I set it. She's got a couple of cuts but only one bad on her hand. It's going to need stitches and she's too little for me to put out." My mother looks at me and I know what that means. Too many times I had seen my mother have to heal people without any kind of medication to numb them and I had to hold in a sob. I couldn't let Melody see me scared right now. I had to be brave for her. My mom wrapped her arms around me and Peeta squeezed my hand.

"Let's get her cleaned up first." My mother said. We used wash clothes to clean the dirt off of Melody and we took extra care with her cuts. She immediately started crying again when the washcloth hit the first one.

"I know, I know, Mommy's sorry baby but she has to clean it!" If this was her reaction at cleaning I couldn't imagine what was going to happen soon. Once she was cleaned off, my mother, Peeta, and I carried her into the living room and I set her down on my lap.

"I'm going to set her leg first so she doesn't injure it more when I do the stitches." My mother said. Melody cried again when my mother did this but my mother assured me that it wasn't going to hurt her anymore than it already did to do this. Once her leg had been set she proceeded to wrap it in wet clothes she had dipped in a special solution and I could see it hardening around her leg.

"She's going to have to wear that for about six weeks. No walking on it either!" My mother said now preparing to deal with putting stitches in a three year old's hand. I kissed Melody's head.

"You did such a good job. Almost done. Nana just has to fix your hand now." Peeta stroked Melody's head and whispered in her ear.

"Ok guys you are going to want to hold her down the best you can, Peeta hold her arm out for me and don't let her jerk it back. You ready?" I nod bracing myself for what was about to come. My mother takes a new cloth and dips it in alcohol solution to sterilize the wound and counts to three before placing it on Melody's hand. The scream that follows is enough to make me hysterical again but I know I can't that I have to be strong for my daughter.

"MOMMY!" She wails.

"I know baby girl! I know! You are so brave! You are such a brave girl!" My mother then starts the process of stitching up her hand a new wave of screams and sobs follows. Peeta and I try and talk her through it and soothe her but it's not use. My mother works fast though and soon she is down and I am walking around the living room bouncing Melody in my arms and I did when she was an infant trying to soothe her. Haymitch comes in to find out how she's doing followed by Gale.

"She has a broken leg and needed stitches in her hand. She got lost and fell down that ditch and couldn't get back out. She was there all night all alone and scared and hurt and I wasn't there to protect her and…" I was sobbing again and Peeta wrapped his arms around me. I am aware that Haymitch punches Gale in the face before coming over to kiss Melody on the head and walking out.

"Katniss I…" I hear Gale start to say through an obvious broken nose.

"Leave Gale." I say. There is nothing left I have to say to him. He already took my sister away from me and he almost took my daughter too. I needed him gone.

"Katniss…"

"Gale. Get. Out. Now." I say through gritted teeth. He turns and walks out and I don't look back at him once. Peeta and I take Melody up stairs and place her in between us in bed. We both stroke her hair and I sing to her and my mother brings in some sleep syrup and with that she is finally able to drift off to sleep. I look down at my beautiful little girl, her leg in a plaster cast, her hand wrapped in bandage, stitches underneath, I think of her lost in the woods, falling down that ditch, hurt, unable to get up, cold, scared, calling for me…I lose it. Peeta strokes my cheek.

"She's fine Katniss. It's going to be alright."

"She's not fine Peeta! She's hurt and it's all my fault!"

"No it's not! It's Gale's fault because he didn't watch her. You found her! You saved her! Because of you she's going to be fine!"

"We could have lost her Peeta." I say pulling her closer to me.

"I know. I can't even think about that. But we didn't! She's here with us and she is going to be fine. So now we just need to get some sleep because we have to be there for her ok? You're fine Katniss. She's fine. We're fine." He says reassuring me.

I nod and lean my head against his. I kiss him and then we both kiss Melody on the head before settling down for the night.

A/N: I'm going to do another chapter which follows up to this story and the aftermath of it. I hope you liked it and review to let me know what you think! The more reviews the faster the next chapter comes!


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